U.S. patent application number 14/160780 was filed with the patent office on 2015-07-23 for slide assembly.
This patent application is currently assigned to KING SLIDE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is KING SLIDE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., KING SLIDE WORKS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to KEN-CHING CHEN, SHIH-LUNG HUANG, TING-TSAI HUANG, CHUN-CHIANG WANG.
Application Number | 20150201752 14/160780 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53543721 |
Filed Date | 2015-07-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150201752 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; KEN-CHING ; et
al. |
July 23, 2015 |
SLIDE ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A slide assembly includes a first rail, a second rail and at
least one positioning device. The first rail has a first elongate
body. The second rail is slidable relative to the first rail and
has a second elongate body. At least one of the first elongate body
and the second elongate body has an opening. The at least one
positioning device has a support member and a dowel. The support
member has a fixing portion and a resilient arm connected to the
fixing portion. The fixing portion is fixed to the at least one of
the first elongate body and the second elongate body. The dowel is
disposed on the resilient arm and corresponds in position to the
opening.
Inventors: |
CHEN; KEN-CHING; (KAOHSIUNG
CITY, TW) ; HUANG; SHIH-LUNG; (KAOHSIUNG CITY,
TW) ; HUANG; TING-TSAI; (KAOHSIUNG CITY, TW) ;
WANG; CHUN-CHIANG; (KAOHSIUNG CITY, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KING SLIDE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
KING SLIDE WORKS CO., LTD. |
Kaohsiung City
Kaohsiung City |
|
TW
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
KING SLIDE TECHNOLOGY CO.,
LTD.
Kaohsiung City
TW
KING SLIDE WORKS CO., LTD.
Kaohsiung City
TW
|
Family ID: |
53543721 |
Appl. No.: |
14/160780 |
Filed: |
January 22, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
384/18 ;
384/7 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16C 29/004 20130101;
A47B 88/423 20170101; F16C 2314/72 20130101; A47B 88/487 20170101;
A47B 88/43 20170101; F16C 29/048 20130101; A47B 88/427
20170101 |
International
Class: |
A47B 88/14 20060101
A47B088/14; F16C 29/00 20060101 F16C029/00; F16C 29/04 20060101
F16C029/04; A47B 88/04 20060101 A47B088/04 |
Claims
1. A slide assembly comprising: a first rail having a first
elongate body with an inner side; a second rail having a second
elongate body with an inner side, the first and second rails being
coupled in longitudinally slidable manner with the inner sides of
the first and second rails opposing one another, wherein at least
one of the first and second elongate bodies has an opening formed
therein; and at least one positioning device having a support
member and a dowel, the support member having a fixing portion
fixed to the at least one of the first and second elongate bodies,
a resilient arm extending from the fixing portion into the opening,
the resilient arm terminating at a free end to remain transversely
deflectable, the dowel being disposed on the resilient arm of the
support member to extend transversely away from an outer surface of
the at least one of the first and second elongate bodies.
2. The slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
fixing member transversely extending through the resilient arm of
the support member and being securely fixed to the dowel.
3. The slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one
portion of the resilient arm is fitted within the opening to be
supported by an inner wall of the opening
4. The slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one
portion of the resilient arm is fitted within the opening, the
resilient arm has a bent portion, and the bent portion abuts
against an inner wall of the opening when the at least one portion
of the resilient arm is moved in response to a force applied
thereon.
5. The slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
ball bearing retainer disposed between the first rail and the
second rail, the ball bearing retainer retaining a plurality of
ball bearings therewith so as to facilitate sliding movement of the
second rail relative to the first rail.
6. The slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an
intermediate rail, a first ball bearing retainer and a second ball
bearing retainer, wherein the intermediate rail is slidably
connected between the first rail and the second rail; the first
ball bearing retainer is disposed between the first rail and the
intermediate rail and retains a plurality of first ball bearings
therewith so as to facilitate sliding movement of the intermediate
rail relative to the first rail; and the second ball bearing
retainer is disposed between the second rail and the intermediate
rail and retains a plurality of second ball bearings therewith so
as to facilitate sliding movement of the second rail relative to
the intermediate rail.
7. The slide assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
connection frame having a slot and at least one latch, wherein a
distal end of the first rail is inserted into the slot of the
connection frame.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a slide assembly, and more
particularly, to a slide assembly capable of quickly installed
between a cabinet and a drawer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,867 to Maberry et al. discloses a slide
assembly and is incorporated herein by reference, which uses
rollers 24, 40 as sliding media and comprises a cabinet member 14
and a drawer member 38 slidably connected to the cabinet member 14.
When assembling, the cabinet member 14 is fixed to a cabinet panel
12 by a pair of bushings 16, 18 and a pair of screws 20A, 20B, and
the drawer member 38 is fixed to a side of a drawer 36 such that
the drawer 36 is slidably connected to the cabinet member 14 by the
drawer member 38 and easily slides relative to the cabinet panel
12.
[0003] The slide assembly using the rollers 24, 40 mentioned above
allows a larger assembly tolerance between the drawer 36 and the
cabinet panel 12, so that, for the furniture manufacturers, the
precision for the drawer 36 and the cabinet panel 12 can be
compromised and needs not to be compared with industrial precision.
Therefore, the slide assemblies using rollers 24, 40 are widely
used on furniture combinations. Nevertheless, the slide assemblies
using the rollers have restriction of the loads. Furthermore, as to
compensate the assembly tolerance, the slide assemblies are not
easily to be combined with soft-closing or push-open design to
increase their values.
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,101 to Cabrales et al. discloses a slide
assembly and is incorporated herein by reference, which uses ball
bearings as sliding media, and the ball bearings have higher
standard of precision and can bear relative high load, so that they
are welcomed by customers. Furthermore, the ball bearings can be
combined with soft-closing design, such as the disclosure of U.S.
Pat. No. 6,712,435 B2 to Kim et al. However, the high precision of
the ball bearings makes them to be squeezed by the drawer and the
cabinet when the assembly tolerance between the drawer and the
cabinet is beyond the permissible range of the slide assembly. This
will result awkward operation of the drawers.
[0005] U.S. Publication No. 2013/0106271 A1 to Anderson et al.
discloses a rail assembly having at least one fixed member 56 and
at least one floating member 54 and is incorporated herein by
reference. The at least one fixed member 56 is transversely
connected to a drawer slide, and the at least one floating member
54 is transversely and slidably connected to the fixed member 56.
This arrangement permits a relatively large assembly tolerance
between the drawer and the cabinet.
[0006] However, once the floating member 54 has a quality flaw such
as the floating member is broken or the assembly tolerance between
the drawer and the cabinet is too large, the floating member 54
might drop from the fixed member 56, and thus, the position to
which the whole set of the rail assembly is installed does not
permit to have the relative large tolerance between the drawer and
the cabinet.
[0007] The present invention intends to provide a slide assembly
that has a support member which is able to move a limited distance
so as to compensate the displacement because of installation
tolerance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention relates to a slide assembly. The slide
assembly comprises a first rail having a first elongate body. A
second rail is longitudinally slidable relative to the first rail
and has a second elongate body, wherein at least one of the first
elongate body and the second elongate body has an opening. At least
one positioning device has a support member and a dowel. The
support member has a fixing portion and a resilient arm connected
to the fixing portion. The fixing portion is fixed to the at least
one of the first elongate body and the second elongate body. The
dowel is disposed on the resilient arm of the support member and
corresponds in position to the opening.
[0009] Preferably, a fixing member transversely extends through the
resilient arm of the support member and is securely fixed to the
dowel.
[0010] Preferably, at least one portion of the resilient arm is
fitted within the opening to be supported by an inner wall of the
opening.
[0011] Preferably, at least one portion of the resilient arm is
fitted within the opening, the resilient arm has a bent portion,
and the bent portion abuts against an inner wall of the opening
when the at least one portion of the resilient arm is moved in
response to a force applied thereon.
[0012] Preferably, a ball bearing retainer is disposed between the
first rail and the second rail. The ball bearing retainer retains a
plurality of ball bearings therewith so as to facilitate sliding
movement of the second rail relative to the first rail.
[0013] Preferably, an intermediate rail is slidably connected
between the first rail and the second rail. A first ball bearing
retainer is disposed between the first rail and the intermediate
rail and retains a plurality of first ball bearings therewith so as
to facilitate sliding movement of the intermediate rail relative to
the first rail. A second ball bearing retainer is disposed between
the second rail and the intermediate rail and retains a plurality
of second ball bearings therewith so as to facilitate sliding
movement of the second rail relative to the intermediate rail.
[0014] Preferably, the slide assembly further comprises a
connection frame having a slot and at least one latch, wherein a
distal end of the first rail is inserted into the slot of the
connection frame.
[0015] The present invention will become more obvious from the
following description when taken in connection with the
accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration
only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a slide assembly in accordance
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the slide assembly in
accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view, taken along line A-A in
FIG. 2;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a top view of the slide assembly in accordance
with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a side view of the slide assembly in accordance
with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a slide assembly in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention,
wherein the slide assembly is connected between a drawer and a
cabinet;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a portion of a slide
assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 8a is a perspective view showing a portion of a slide
assembly in accordance with a third embodiment of the present
invention;
[0024] FIG. 8b is a plan view showing the portion of the slide
assembly in accordance with the third embodiment of the present
invention;
[0025] FIG. 9 is a side view of a slide assembly in accordance with
a fourth embodiment of the present invention, and
[0026] FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a slide assembly in
accordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a slide assembly in accordance
with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a
first rail 10, a second rail 12 and at least one positioning device
14.
[0028] The first rail 10 has a first elongate body 16, and the
first elongate body 16 has a first wall 18, a second wall 20
opposite to the first wall 18, and a side wall 22 extending between
the first wall 18 and the second wall 20, wherein a path 24 is
bounded by the first wall 18, the second wall 20 and the side wall
22.
[0029] The second rail 12 is slidably received in the path 24 of
the first rail 10 such that the second rail 12 is longitudinally
movable relative to the first rail 10. In detail, the second rail
12 has a second elongate body 26, wherein the second elongate body
26 has two lateral walls 28, 30 and an intermediate wall 32
extending between the two lateral walls 28, 30. Preferably, the
slide assembly further comprises a connection frame 36 which has a
slot 38 and at least one latch 40, and a distal end 34 of the first
rail 10 is inserted into the slot 38 of the connection frame 36
such that the slide assembly is adapted to be fixed to a cabinet
(not shown) by the at least one latch 40 of the connection frame
36.
[0030] Preferably, with reference to FIG. 3, a ball bearing
retainer 42 is disposed between the first rail 10 and the second
rail 12 and retains a plurality of ball bearings 42 therewith so as
to facilitate sliding movement of the second rail 12 relative to
the first rail 10, thus forming a two-stage ball bearing slide
assembly.
[0031] The at least one positioning device 14 has a support member
48 and a dowel 50. The intermediate wall 32 of the second elongate
body 26 of the second rail 12 has an opening 46 defined therein,
and the at least one positioning device 14 is connected to the
intermediate wall 32 of the second elongate body 26 of the second
rail 12.
[0032] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the support member 48 of the at
least one positioning device 14 has a fixing portion 52 and a
resilient arm 54. The resilient arm 54 is connected to the fixing
portion 52, and the fixing portion 52 is securely connected to the
second elongate body 26 of the second rail 12. In detail, the
fixing portion 52 can be fixed to the second elongate body 26 by
way of threading, riveting, or any known method, but the fixing
portion 52 also can be integrally formed with the second elongate
body 26 by way of punching, stamping, or any known method.
[0033] At least one portion of the resilient arm 54 is fitted
within the opening 46 and is supported by an inner wall of the
opening 46. In detail, the resilient arm 54 has a bent portion 56,
and the bent portion 56 abuts against the inner wall of the opening
46 when the at least one portion of the resilient arm 54 fitted
within the opening 46 is moved in response to a force applied
thereon. The dowel 50 is disposed on the resilient arm 54 of the
support member 48 and corresponds in position to the opening 46. In
other words, the dowel 50 is disposed on the at least one portion
of the resilient arm 54, such that the dowel 50 is allowed to be
transversely moved together with the at least one portion of the
resilient arm 54 relative to the slide assembly. Preferably, the
positioning device 14 has a fixing member 58 which transversely
extends through the resilient arm of the support member 48 and is
securely fixed to the dowel 50. The fixing member 58 can be fixed
to the dowel 50 by way of threading, riveting, or any known
method.
[0034] Alternatively, the opening 46 is defined in the side wall 22
of the first elongate body 16 of the first rail 10, and the at
least one positioning device 14 is connected to the side wall 22 of
the first elongate body 16 of the first rail 10, wherein the fixing
portion 52 of the support member 48 of the at least one positioning
device 14 is securely connected to the first elongate body 16 of
the first rail 10. The remaining arrangement and operation of the
at least one positioning device 14 on the first elongate body 16 of
the first rail 10 are the same as those disclosed above; thus, an
explanation thereof is eliminated herein.
[0035] It is noted that the opening 46 and the at least one
positioning device 14 is disposed on the first elongate body 16
and/or the second elongate body 26. In other words, the opening 46
and the at least one positioning device 14 can be disposed on one
of the first elongate body 16 and the second elongate body 26, or
be disposed on both of the first elongate body 16 and the second
elongate body 26.
[0036] In a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
FIG. 6, the first elongate body 16 of the first rail 10 and the
second elongate body 26 of the second rail 12 each have the opening
46 and the positioning device 14 disposed thereon, and wherein the
dowel 50 of the positioning device 14 disposed on the first
elongate body 16 is installed to a cabinet 62, and the dowel 50 of
the positioning device 14 disposed on the second elongate body 26
is installed to a drawer 60. Since the dowels 50 are disposed on
their respective resilient arms 54, when there is an assembly
tolerance between the drawer 60 and the cabinet 62, the dowels 50
are capable of being moved transversely together with their
respective resilient arms 54 to compensate the tolerance "d" and
therefore facilitate rolling movement of the ball bearings 44
retained by the ball bearing retainer 42. Preferably, the dowel 50
and the fixing member 58 are secured together to form an integral
member, which has better structural strength, so as to avoid the
dowel 50 from deformation, broken and dropping from the support
member 48 because of quality flaw or over-load.
[0037] FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention,
wherein the support member 48a and the second elongate body 26a of
the second rail 12a are two individual members and are connected to
each other by fixing the fixing portion 52a of the support member
48a to the second elongate body 26a of the second rail 12a by way
of riveting.
[0038] FIGS. 8a and 8b show a third embodiment of the present
invention wherein the whole resilient arm 54a is fitted within the
opening 46a of the second rail 12b and corresponds in shape to the
inner wall of the opening 46a. Therefore, when the resilient arm
54a is resiliently moved within the opening 46a, the contact
between the inner wall of the opening 46a and the resilient arm 54a
is of large area, and thus the resilient arm 54a is better
supported by the inner wall of the opening 46a.
[0039] FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention,
wherein an intermediate rail 64 is slidably connected between the
first rail 100 and the second rail 120. Furthermore, a first ball
bearing retainer 66 is disposed between the first rail 100 and the
intermediate rail 64 and retains a plurality of first ball bearings
68 therewith so as to facilitate sliding movement of the
intermediate rail 64 relative to the first rail 100, and a second
ball bearing retainer 70 is disposed between the second rail 120
and the intermediate rail 64 and retains a plurality of second ball
bearings 72 therewith so as to facilitate sliding movement of the
second rail 120 relative to the intermediate rail 64, thus forming
a three-stage slide assembly.
[0040] FIG. 10 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention,
wherein the resilient arm 54b has an installation hole 74. The
dowel 50a is tubular-shaped and has a plurality of axial slots 76
and an engaging portion 78 disposed thereon. The plurality of axial
slots 76 enables the dowel 50a to be flexible, and thus the dowel
50a can be inserted into the installation hole 74 by the
flexibility thereof and then be securely connected to the resilient
arm 54b by the engaging portion 78 thereof.
[0041] While we have shown and described the embodiment in
accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those
skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without
departing from the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *